


Live by the Sea, Love by the Tide

by Twin_Kitten



Series: Reylo Monster Week 2018 [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Mermaids, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Monster Week, Sexy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 01:14:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16440290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twin_Kitten/pseuds/Twin_Kitten
Summary: Rey and a few other mermaids escape the clutches of Unkar, and stumble into the territory of another pod of mermaids. Ben's pod.





	Live by the Sea, Love by the Tide

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I love getting comments, and I'm trying to reply when I can, but monster week posting schedule combined with work and family, is super busy. Love you guys, please let me know if you want me to continue any of these. Some I really liked and want to continue into full stories, lol. Like this one.
> 
> Let's get real. I'm gonna continue this one once life settles down a bit and I finish a few other WIP.
> 
> (Also, super sorry I have to post this a day early, I have like, a 12 hour day tomorrow at work.)

Ben was minding his own business when she bubbled into his life. But it didn’t start with her. It started with a tiny baby Merkin, that really shouldn’t have been out of his nest let alone away from his parents.

 

The tiny mer-child streaked past him, brown and cream tail flipping frantically before turning and darting under Ben’s tail, hiding in his shadow. In confusion, Ben looked down at the little boy trying to bury himself in the sand, then looked around. “Um… What are you doing?”

 

“Hide!”

 

Before Ben could ask what the child was hiding from, he saw it. There, circling him just barely in his peripheral vision, was a big tiger shark. Ben felt the spines along his tail prickle, rising and fanning the attached fins at his hips to make himself look larger as his coloring glowed to life. He was a fully mature male Merkin, not small by any means, but not the biggest thing in the sea and not quite as big as this predator.

 

This was not his child, he didn’t even recognize it from the pod, but he’d never let this shark have him without a fight. Spreading his arms, he rumbled a warning, the subsonic frequencies vibrating the water as his glands released a territorial warning scent into the salt water, the glow along his tail and fins getting brighter. Most ocean predators avoided attacking Merkin, not just because they were big and strong, but because they usually traveled in pods, and a pod of Merkin could take down even the largest and most vicious of sea creatures. Where there was one adult, there was usually more, even if little ones did occasionally wander too far from the safety of the reef.

 

Within moments, the water shifted and without looking, Ben knew another Merkin had arrived. Probably the child’s parent, who Ben was going to give a stern lecture about keeping an eye on the youngling, though it was probably unnecessary in light of the close call with the shark. The shark realized the odds had shifted and he wasn’t getting the child as a snack, and lazily turned, swimming away into the inky blue as if that had been it’s intention all along.

 

Once the shark was out of view, Ben focused on relaxing the muscles around his spines, sucking water into his lungs to try and calm his body and quiet the pheromones clouding the water, fading his glowing coloration. Then he glanced to the side to get a look at the irresponsible Merkin, and now had a whole new set of physical reactions he needed to control.

 

There, with her head nearly at his waist as she coaxed the mer-child out of the sand, was a beautiful girl. With his aggressive and protective instincts so close to the surface, his body switched to mating urges with a speed that made him dizzy. It wasn’t how she looked, which was lovely though. It was the tone of her voice, low and soothing, and the look on her face, gentle and sweet, as she pulled the child into her arms.

 

She clearly wasn’t his mother, their coloring too different, and she didn’t look old enough to have a child yet, so perhaps a babysitter? He cleared his throat, trying to calm his body as she looked up at him. “Are you alright? Is he alright?”

 

She lifted the child who was working through his own quivers, looking him over and giving Ben the chance to look at them both. “He seems fine. Frightened-” At this word she gave the child a stern look that was returned with a sheepish gap toothed smile. “But not hurt.”

 

Then she turned her eyes on him with a soft smile. “I can’t thank you enough...”

 

Ben shook his head. “No, no, of course!” Then he gulped, “I… mean, no thanks needed. We all look out for each other, right?”

 

Now both the girl and the young child were looking at him in confusion. And Ben realized he didn’t recognize her either, which if she were a member of his pod, he would. His mother had been very insistent about introducing him to what must be every available girl, and he would remember her.

 

She had brownish hair and the kind of tanned skin that meant she must spend a lot of time near the surface of the sea, her eyes a hazel that seemed part brown and part green. And her tail was…. Well… It was molting. Her maturity molt it seemed; the tan and brown scales were patchy and flaking away to reveal beautiful bright blue and yellow scales underneath.

 

“You arn’t from around here are you?”

 

Fear passed over her face lightning fast, before she forced her expression into something that almost resembled casual, but the boy gave her away, his eyes wide and his mouth quivering as her clung to her and looked back and forth between her and Ben.

 

Holding up his hands, hoping to placate them, he softened his voice. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. Neither will anyone in my pod. What are you doing here?”

 

She swallowed, dropping her gaze. “We… we didn’t know there was a pod nearby... I promise, we... we will be gone by next tide.”

 

“No no, please,” He tried to be open and welcoming, but he knew how he looked. “You can stay. You could join us if you want to?”

 

She cradled the child close, looking uncertain, and he pressed a bit more. “We have lots of food. We don’t have any other pods around for hundreds of leagues. Whatever happened to you before… you’d be safe here.”

 

She hesitated looking around nervously, ducking her head before she spoke. “There are… three more. Would that...” She swallowed looking up at him again. “Is that okay?”

 

Ben nodded without a second thought. “Of course, of course.” He flicked his tail, letting himself drift a bit closer. “Where are they? We can bring them now.”

 

The child drifted down, slipping out of her arms to squirm and swim around her tail, already bored with their conversation, and she sighed. “I guess… um… follow me.” She reached out, snagging the child’s hand. “BeBee. Stay close this time.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The big male followed her unerringly, his shoulder keeping perfect distance from her hip as if they had done it a thousand times, somehow knowing the tiny signs of her fins as she shifted to curve and navigate through the water towards the hollowed out broken ship that had become their home.

 

Unkar had gone too far and Rey had… Rey had killed him. Fearing what the rest of the troop would do, because they were a troop, not a pod as this male had spoken of, she had taken any others willing to leave with her and fled. Pods were families, troops were… something else. Simply a collection of beings, large ones that took advantage of the smaller ones that needed protection. So Rey, BeBee, Kaydel, Rose, and Snap had fled, swimming away from the coast and into the terrifying deep.

 

So used to the sun and the sand and the basking rocks and the rise and fall of the tide, the new little group had been frightened of every shadow, until it all became shadow and they were frightened of everything. But they kept going. Eventually, leagues past the last Merkin they had seen, they found the tiny ship in an area that wasn’t quite so dark. It was metal; sharp, hard, and cold, but it was enough. They had done the best they could; blocking holes and stringing seaweed and kelp to make hammocks for the smallest ones to sleep together, tangled knots of child and scales, while below the hammock Rey slept on a pile of seaweed and sand, protecting them.

 

She had gone out to try and find food and when she returned, Kaydel told her BeBee had snuck out too. She thought for sure her heart stopped when she saw the shark chasing the boy. Then, there he was.

 

She and the others had seen and experienced a lot in their short lives. Unkar had been leader of the troop; he had been big and mean, and the other sea-folk he associated with were much the same. So, Rey was used to seeing big males of many kinds battle and posture and behave aggressively. This male, floating protectively over the child, had been a sight to behold.

 

All pale skin and dark dark scales, so dark a navy blue and purple they were almost black, his hair true black as it floated around his head like a beautiful crown. His hip fins had been flared out, his dorsal spines lifted long and sharp, his powerful tail spread and stretched to its length as waves of glowing piment pulsed down the lines of his body. All in protection of BeBee, a child he didn’t know and shouldn’t have cared about.

 

As they crested a small rocky dune, Rey felt a small twinge of embarrassment at the home they had claimed, both because they apparently had no right to it since there was a pod nearby, and because it was very shabby despite their efforts to make it a livable place. That feeling only intensified when his voice came in a low rumble. “There?”

 

She nodded, unable to meet his eyes and only flicked her tail to pull further ahead of him. Peering around the hole that served as their doorway, she slipped inside and coaxed the others out, the big male waiting outside as BeBee scurried in after her.

 

Rose was the oldest, though still younger than Rey and at sixteen was still a year or two from maturity, Snap close behind her in age at fifteen. Kaydel was too pretty at the age of eleven and had been eager to escape the fate Unkar and the other males had planned, with BeBee rounding out the group as the youngest at only five. All of them were too small and thin, and all their tails were in shades of brown that signified they hadn’t reached maturity yet, though some of them had visible coloring or fin shapes that would eventually become more revealed when they molted. BeBee was the most obvious with a pattern that was almost certainly going to develop into an orange and white koi pattern, but was a muted brown and dirty cream now.

 

After speaking with them briefly, soothing their fears and telling them not to be afraid, even as she quivered under her skin, she guided them out of the ship.

 

He was still waiting, though he had changed position, having swam up a few yards and now seemed to be acting as a lookout, his gaze scanning the water around them with faraway eyes.

 

Rey cleared her throat and he turned his gaze on her with a sharp intensity that made her tail flick with uncertainty. “This is Rose, Snap, Kaydel, and you’ve met BeBee.”

 

He glanced over the group, his eyes assessing as his head tilted, then he nodded.

 

“Follow me.” He seemed more assured now that he had seen them, now that he was taking them to his pod and pulling them under his protection, and that confidence made Rey feel… small. She hadn’t been confident at all during their journey, only barely getting them as far as she had and questioning herself the whole way.

 

She was surprised to find him swimming next to her, his powerful tail slowing to match her speed, and he turned slightly. “You never told me your name.”

 

Her brows shot up and her eyes went wide at the tone of his voice, low and not nearly as commanding as when he had spoken to the group. Softer. More of a request. “My name… I’m Rey.”

 

He nodded, humming softly in thought as if he was tasting her name, before he reached out a hand in greeting. “Ben.” She reached out, gripping his wrist as he did the same, but his touch lingered and she blushed, jerking away as he smiled. “Lovely to meet you, Rey.”

 

“I’m going to.. Check on the…” She dropped back, curling her body and darting for the end of the line that followed him. His eyes followed her with a twinkle, before turning back to the task of leading them to his pod.

 

And as they began passing other Merkin, Rey’s anxiety grew as they watched the little group. Several recognized Ben before turning curious eyes on the children and her. She kept her head down, not seeing much of the area until Ben began leading them up the steep side of a rocky underwater mountain. Then she looked up. And up. And up.

 

Dotting the side of the rocky mountain were caves, clearly carved out into livable caverns based on the regular and patterned placement of them. Not many Merkin that she had met kept or built permanent homes like this, and Rey had always hated sleeping in the reefs or kelp forests that were essentially open water. She had never felt safe or stable, as if she could be swept away or gobbled up in an instant.

 

She had paused and both Ben and her young charges had noticed, looking back at her as she stared up at the mountain, and she hurried to catch up, the group starting their swim to the top again. Once there, Ben told them to wait and went inside one of the caves, disappearing in the darkness for a few long moments. Then he returned with two Merkin, a male and a female who were significantly older than Rey had expected. The woman was petite, slightly plump, with greying brown hair and thin flowing robes covering her torso. While the male was probably once trim, he was now thickened and stout with age, his hair fully grey and white, his face lined, and dressed in a brown vest.

 

Both of them scanned the group then settled on Rey, the woman with a somewhat knowing smile while the male smirked. They were oddly familiar looking.

 

“Rey, these are the leaders of our Pod. Leia and Han.” Ben swam out, circling her and encouraging her closer to the couple, even as she looked over her shoulder at him questioningly. “My parents.”

 

Rey felt herself go pale and whipped her head back around to look at the leaders.

 

“Hello Rey, Ben says you and these little ones will be joining us.”

 

After a few minutes of awkward conversation with the pod leaders, then nervous fidgeting over the next few hours as Ben and the pod found places for the children to sleep, he led her to a cavern a few rows down the mountain. It was clearly lived in, someone’s home, and it smelled like a mature male. After a moment, Rey realized it smelled like Ben and she looked at him, wide eyed as fear swamped her.

 

“Shh shh, don’t be frightened. I’ll be sleeping elsewhere until I can find a safe place for you.”

 

Ben’s tail swished and his body swayed towards her before seeming to realize that following her into the cave would frighten her more and shifted his body back into the open water outside. “You want me to sleep in your nest?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“You want me to sleep in your nest?” She was looking at him with a mix of confusion and fear and something he didn’t recognize.

 

Ben had known her for less than two tides and he wanted Rey in his nest for the rest of his life. Though he would prefer to join her in it, he knew that would take time, and knew enough not to say such. So he only nodded.

 

Rey was… Special. She had been so strong, not backing down from his mother or father, demanding to look into the homes where her charges would be placed, making sure they were unafraid and comforting them, though he could tell she was afraid. He didn’t know what had happened with her previous pod to make her and the younger ones flee, and he was angry that they had been frightened or possibly hurt. But he was also grateful for whatever it was that had sent them running, for without that circumstance, he never would have met her.

 

“But… I’m…” She gestured vaguely at her tail and he realized she was talking about her scales. She was worried she would leave them all over his nest because she was molting.

 

He chuckled and shrugged with a smile. “It’s fine.” He would gladly have her shed scales in his nest forever. And if she decided they didn’t suit he would have something to remember her by. “I can’t wait to see when you are done.”

 

It was only the shocked look she gave him, a flush on her cheeks and a darting that kept coming back to him, that told him that his voice had been flirtatious and his eyes had traveled over her in a way that might have scared her. But she wasn’t acting scared. Nervous yes, but there was a tiny hint of a smile.

 

She cleared her throat and he watched her arms move to balance herself in the water before she spoke. “Where will you sleep?”

 

He held her eyes, and motioned with his thumb towards the small ledge outside the cave. He knew it was not going to be comfortable, and that he wouldn’t get much sleep if any but… “I need to protect you.”

 

He shouldn’t have said that. It was too soon. But Rey didn’t seem upset by it. Instead she tucked her chin and drifted to the opposite side of the entry that he was on, leaning into the stone, shyly bracing her chest there as her hands held the wall, looking at him halfway over her shoulder. “You… It's your nest. You shouldn’t have to sleep outside.”

 

Ben could feel his body swell. Even if her invitation wasn’t intentional, he read it as welcoming him. “Where else could I sleep and protect you?”

 

She gave a tiny shrug and glanced at the cave. “Inside?” Then he felt her panic, her words scrambling, “I mean, I can take care of myself, but you shouldn’t be out here…”

 

Ben nodded, shifting his body through the water until he was inside the cave and she was the one that was in the doorway, backing in and reaching for her hand. Drawing her back into the cave with him. She didn’t struggle, her body slipping through the water to follow his tugging without any resistance, other than her voice. “That doesn't… I… we can’t-”

 

But he hushed her again, guiding her to his nest of sea grass and ocean sponges. “I know… I’ll wait until your molt is over, when you are ready.” He grinned, his big body floating to rest against hers in the soft padding.

 

“If you like… I could, would be honored to groom you?” Ben already liked the feel of her small body next to his too much, despite the way she was shifting around, getting comfortable and shyly pulling away, nervously shivering every time they touched. He settled on one side of the bed, giving her space as she settled herself, then would slowly drift closer. He could get used to this.   
  
“Groom me?” She glanced up at him, then immediately looked away.

 

He was so close he could see the flecks of colors in her eyes, smell her nerves though he didn’t need to, she was showing the signs in so many other ways. He nodded. Grooming was a traditional courtship ritual, he was happy to do it, and would be absurdly proud if she allowed him to be the first to see her full mature colors. “Yes… I can get the brushes and oil, if you’d let me.”

 

She looked at him as if he were offering to lick a sea slug. “Don’t you find it… disgusting?”

 

Ben tilted his head at her curiously, “No. It’s just molting. Everyone does it.” He chuckled, slowly, stealthily dropping his head to nuzzle her shoulder and ear. She giggled as if it tickled despite the still shy look on her face. “It would help with the itching.”

 

Rey’s eyes widened and at that moment Ben knew she would allow him to groom her. “It would make the itching stop?”

 

He nodded, casually dropping a kiss on her cheek as if it were nothing and ignoring the nervously bitten lip, as he quickly slipped from the bed to the basket at the back of the cave. Pulling out the stiff bristle brush, the soft sponge, and the oil bottle he quickly returned to her side. Though now, his face and torso were lined up at her hip and she was trembling slightly, her eyes watching his every move.

 

His palms slowly smoothed over the wide bulk of her tail below her hips, carefully avoiding her flap, simply trying to soothe her. He would never hurt her and he wanted her to trust in that. The stiff brush would feel scratchy and harsh at first, but she should grow to like it after the first few strokes. Finding a spot on her hip where the scales were loose but not quite peeling away, he slowly dragged the bristles down, following the pattern of her scales. She flinched, her tail twitching, but then she sighed as the scratch of the brush relieved the itch as the skin peeled. Each stroke started the same, Rey squirming slightly before the relief set in, but each pass was less and less of a reaction.

 

Until she was laying pliant in his bed as he brushed away the molting scales. Each patch of brown flakes that was removed showed more of her coloring. He had expected it, the bright flashy colors, since she had already had patches of skin flaked away, but the more he revealed the more amazed he was. Coastal and reef Merkin were much brighter than the deep sea Merkin, as it was easier to blend in that way, but Ben was so used to the muted browns and blacks and blues that her coloring was nearly blinding.

 

He had thought she was blue and yellow, but as he revealed fresh new scales he realized a few things. The yellow was more of a coppery gold, it glimmered with hints of burnished red and had an iridescence to it that added a rich depth of color that the word yellow didn’t fully capture. And she wasn’t just blue and gold. When he rolled her now soft and boneless body over, her quiet gasp making his blood rush, he saw that all down her spine and dorsal ridge there was a blush of bright purple that faded into the blue.

 

He worked his way around her hip bands, down her dorsal, and around her tapered tail, brushing and tugging at the shedding skin. His eyes traced every new patch, memorizing her. He hadn’t counted on this being such an erotic experience. When he had started, she had been jumpy and twitching, then she had relaxed into it. Now… Now she was moaning and whimpering throatily with every pass of the brush over her scales, sighing in relief as each large patch was peeled away. When he would stop for a moment, to gently pick at a stubborn spot or to shift his weight or move her body, she would whimper, asking him for more. Begging him for more.

 

He grit his teeth. His blood was pounding heavy and thick in his head, his cock swollen past aching and straight into painful, emerged from his pouch and eagerly seeking her. Ben had never been so grateful for his bed being able to hide his arousal. He had sworn he would wait until she was ready. And he would. No matter how she moaned like that. Or told him to do it harder.

 

He shook himself, trying to control the reactions he could, hiding the ones he couldn’t.

 

By the time he reached her fin, he was grinding against the bed as subtly as he could, even while carefully fanning each section and using a gentler brush on the delicate folds, brushing away the more dust like scales that didn’t peel like the rest of her tail.

 

When he was finished, bits of scales and patches of skin lay around the bed, and Rey was making soft contented rumbles, her eyes half closed and her body curled and relaxed, looking as if she were about to fall asleep at any moment. Ben wanted to preen, wanted to fan all his fins and strut for putting that expression on her face. He settled for rubbing his face over the small vee at the base of her tail where the muscles turned to gossamer fins.

 

Only halfway done, all the old loose scales had been removed but now he needed to oil all her new, fresh, sensitive skin. He was more than eager to rub his hands over her body, but was also dreading it as it would not help with his arousal. But he carefully began working the slick fluid up her tail, taking care to rub extra in any rough or dry patches.

 

Rey hummed and wiggled, but was smiling when he looked up to check that she was alright. By the time he was done, she had fallen asleep, but he was pleased when he crawled up next to her, despite his cock insistently demanding to rub against her. Her scales gleamed even in the low light of the cave, looking healthy and moisturized instead of the dry and neglected scales that she had worn when he first saw her.

 

There was no option for relief for him, not tonight, so he arranged the seagrass bedding to hide his need for her, carefully cradling her body close and nuzzling against the back of her hair. Rey was it for him. Ben didn’t care how crazy it was. When you know, you know.

 

He would go out tomorrow and find the perfect stone to offer her.


End file.
